France is 'very worried' about Iran's nuclear programme, but is opposing any strike against the Islamic Republic because it would cause 'irreparable damage'.

Foreign Minister Alain Juppe today voiced concern about speculation that Israel is preparing a strike on Iranian nuclear sites ahead of the release of an International Atomic Energy Agency report on Tehran's nuclear activity.

If the IAEA report, due out this week, indicates Iran is building atomic weapons capabilities, then France would firmly back further U.N. sanctions, he said, but would do all it can to stop military action.

Four previous rounds of sanctions have been imposed on Iran over its nuclear programme. But Russia and China, two veto-wielding U.N. Security Council, members have made clear any new sanctions would be an extremely tough sell.

'We are very worried about Iran stepping out of line. It would seriously destabilise the region,' Juppe told RTL radio.

'France's position is firm: if we need to reinforce sanctions, we are ready,' he said.

'I think we have to do everything we can to avoid the irreparable damage that military action would cause.'

Iran is pursuing its nuclear weapons program at the Parchin military base about 30 kilometers from Tehran, diplomatic sources in Vienna say

Parchin has hundreds of structures and a number of fortified tunnels and bunkers for carrying out explosive experiments

The IAEA report is widely expected to strengthen suspicions that Tehran is seeking to develop the capability to make atomic bombs, countering its claims that its nuclear enrichment programme is purely for civilian purposes.

Russia and Iran warned the West against
military intervention on Monday, saying an attack would lead to civilian
casualties and create new threats to global security.

Defence Minister Ehud Barak today appeared to play down speculation about an Israeli strike, insisting 'We don't want a war'

China is also expressing concern about a possible American military strike against Iran.

Western nations are likely to react by calling for further sanctions against the Islamic state, but speculation has been rising that Israel is preparing a pre-emptive strike on Iranian nuclear sites.

However today, Defence Minister Ehud Barak appeared to play down speculation of a strike, saying it had not decided to embark on any military operation.

'War is not a picnic. We want a picnic. We don’t want a war,' Barak told Israel Radio.

'(Israel) had not yet decided to embark on any operation,' he said, dismissing Israeli media speculation that he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had chosen that option.

Fresh details ahead of tomorrow's IAEA report suggest that Iran could even be 'nuclear ready' within months.

And laying bare the disturbing extent of the country’s atomic weapons programme will increase calls in the United States for pre-emptive action against the Islamic state.

The Iranian nuclear power plant in Bushehr, southern Iran - a site that may be targeted in a mooted military strike

However, Iran has threatened to retaliate by blocking the Strait of Hormuz, severing 40 per cent of the world’s oil supplies.

Russia's foreign minister yesterday became the latest critic of any proposed action against Iran warning it would be 'a very serious mistake fraught with unpredictable consequences'.

Sergei Lavrov added: 'The only path
for removing concerns is to create every possible condition' to resume
the talks between Iran and six world powers, which broke down last
December.

China has also expressed concern about a military strike against Iran, but has also urged Tehran not to be confrontational with the IAEA.

Moscow
and Beijing have signaled concern that the report will box Iran into a
corner and dim any chance of diplomacy resolving the dispute, which has
the potential to spark a wider conflict in the Middle East.

'The Russians in particular have been lobbying quite intensively,' one senior Western diplomat said.

Meanwhile former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has weighed in to slam Iran saying the U.S. should consider
even tougher penalties against the Iranian government and 'be doing
everything we can to bring it down.'

Rice told ABC's This Week that the U.S. should never take the option
of military force off the table when it comes to dealing with Iran.

The current Iranian government is trying to obtain a nuclear
weapon and has repressed its own people, she said.

'The regime has
absolutely no legitimacy left,' she added.

Israeli President Shimon Peres had earlier expressed a determination to launch a military strike against Iran.

New UN evidence suggesting Iran was helped by several foreign scientists could provide further headache for Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

'The
possibility of a military attack against Iran is now closer to being
applied than the application of a diplomatic option,' he said over the weekend.

'I
estimate that intelligence services of all these countries are looking
at the ticking clock, warning leaders that there was not much time
left,' he added.

Republican candidate Rick Perry, last week came out to back an Israeli air strike on Iran.

The Texas Governor said he would support Israel on the matter if there is proof Tehran is moving closer to having a nuclear weapon.

The news comes as a former Soviet weapons expert and scientists in Pakistan and North Korea are all believed to have aided Iran in its nuclear quest, according to the United Nations.

IN DEPTH: THE FOREIGN EXPERT HELP

Former Soviet weapons scientist Vyacheslav Danilenkoallegedly taught Iranians how to build high-precision detonators that could trigger a chain reaction, according to UN evidence.

Danilenko was believed to have been contracted by Iran's Physics Research Centre, linked to the country's nuclear programme, in the mid 1990s.

He allegedly gave lectures and shared research on developing and testing bombs that Iran then incorporated into their warhead design, according to Washington Post sources with access to IAEA's files.

However, while Danilenko acknowledged his role he also said he believe his work was limited to assisting civilian engineering projects, the sources added.

There is also no evidence that Russia knew of Danilenko's Iranian activities.

Weapons experts added that Iran relied on foreign scientists for mathematical formulas and codes, some of which may have come from North Korea.

The design for a neutron initiator by father of Pakistan's nuclear programme, Abdul Qadeer Khan, was also discovered in Iran, sources said.

The latest intelligence provided to UN nuclear officials, due for publication on Wednesday and obtained by the Washington Post, suggests former Soviet weapons scientist Vyacheslav Danilenkoallegedly taught Iranians how to build high-precision detonators that could trigger a chain reaction during the mid 1990s.'

But it makes clear the Iranians want to be able to build such weapons quickly if need be.

And thanks to outside help, the Iranians are now on 'the threshold' of making a nuclear warhead small enough to fit on top of a ballistic missile, says the study.

One key technical breakthrough, say the IAEA’s intelligence sources, is that Iran has learnt how to design a device known as an R265 generator.

It added there was also evidence to suggest other
precision technology linked to experts in Pakistan and North Korea had
helped advance Iran's nuclear capabilities.

Iranian officials appear unconcerned.

Iran’s foreign minister and former nuclear official, Ali Akbar Salehi, told the Mehr News Agency: 'Let
them publish and see what happens,' adding that the uproar over the
country's nuclear programme was '100 per cent political' and that the
IAEA is 'under pressure from foreign powers.'

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejadsaid on Sunday the U.S. feared Iran's growing military power because it is now able to compete with Israel and the West.

'Yes,
we have military capabilities that are different from any other country
in the region,' he said. 'Iran is increasing in capability and
advancement and therefore we are able to compete with Israel and the
West and especially the United States.'

'The U.S. fears Iran's capability. Iran will not permit (anyone from making) a move against it.'

Proof: A test-fire launch of a short-range missile in Iran. The UN now has a 'compelling case' that Iran is building an arsenal of nuclear weapons

IRAN'S PARCHIN MILITARY BASE EXPOSED

Iran is conducting its secret nuclear programme at the Parchin military base, near Tehran, according to sources close to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Iran has allegedly carried out experiments in the final, critical stage for developing nuclear weapons, including explosions real and simulated.

These have been carried out in a bus-sized container spotted on satellite photos, according to reports.

U.S. intelligence agencies are thought to have believed the base is suitable for developing nuclear weapons for around eight years.

The Iranians have rejected an IAEA request to visit Parchin in the past, arguing the IAEA rules allowed it to deny such visits to military bases.

Now the site is under scrutiny again as a suspected location for covert nuclear activity.

One
part of the IAEA's report is thought to reinforce concerns that Iran
continued its nuclear programme after 2003 - the year that U.S.
intelligence agencies believed it had bowed to international pressures
to halt experiments.

One
Iranian document suggests scientists had been discussing plans to start a
four-year study of neutron initiators beginning in 2007 - four years
after the 2003 deadline, according to sources.

'The programme never really stopped,' David Albright, a former UN weapons inspector who has seen the intelligence files said according to the Washington Post.

'After 2003, money was made available for research in areas that sure
look like nuclear weapons work but were hidden within civilian
institutions,' he added.

But Iran has become increasingly belligerent in recent weeks and tensions are continuing to mount over its ambitions.

The country's history of concealing sensitive nuclear activity and its refusal to suspend work that can potentially yield atomic bombs have already been punished by four rounds of U.N. sanctions, and separate U.S. and European punitive steps.

Earlier this week, it was revealed Britain was drawing up contingency plans for any military action.

Commanders
were working out how to deploy Navy submarines equipped with Tomahawk
cruise missiles in case President Barack Obama decides to launch missile
strikes against Iranian bases.